Crossfire War - Thailand - Muslim Leader Opposed to Islamic Separatists Killed

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By Willard Payne

Crossfire War - BANGKOK WATCH - Southeast Asia Theatre: /Bangkok/; Prominent Muslim Leader Opposed to Islamic Separatists Killed in Narathiwat Province

Night Watch: BACHO VILLAGE - AKI reports that a prominent Muslim leader, Kawee Prachumkayohmas, 55, who was strongly opposed to the Islamic separatist's movement now entering its fourth year in south Thailand, was shot four times after leaving a cemetery in Narathiwat province where he had been praying. Two other people were killed also. The fighting began in January 2004 and has killed nearly 2,000 people with the war concentrated in the provinces along Malaysia's border, Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani. [AKI]

The last uprising began 30 years ago and ended during the 1980s. Buddhist Thailand took over the south provinces in the late nineteenth century; provinces that were populated by Muslims in what had been an independent Islamic state Pattani. However, it has also been acknowledged that the established corruption in Thailand is also a contributing factor in the disturbances.

Night Watch Information Service
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